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(N Model.)

" S. B. WORTMANN.

DEVICE POR UNGOUPLING GARS.'

Patented May .26, 1891.

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V UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

SIGISMUND B. VORTMANN, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

DEVICE FOR UNCOUPLING CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0.453,030, dated May 26,1891.

Application fled April 8 1891.

Serial No. 388,100. (No modell) .To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, SIGIsMUND B. WORT- MANN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDevices for Uncoupling Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as willenable others skilled in the artl to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My present invention relates to improve.

ments in devices for lifting or uncoupling the pin of a railway-carcoupling: and the object of the invention is to provide simple means foreasily and safely lifting the pin from the top or side of a car touncouplewithout requiring the attendant or brakeman to pass between thecars.

With these and other ends in view my invention consists iny thecombination, with a drawhead and a car-axle, of ashaft suitablysupported below the car-body, a loose gear carried by said shaft andnormally geared to said axle, a clutch keyed to the shaft and adapted tofasten the loose gear rigidly to said shaft, an operating-levercarryinga shoe adapted to be lifted by a cam or projection on the shaft,and a pin-liftinglever connected to the operating-lever and engagingwith the pin of the draw-head to lift the latter from engagement withthe link.

My invention further consists in the co1n bination of devices and novelconstruction of parts hereinafter pointed out and claimed.

To enable others to more readily understand myinvention, I haveillustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, in which-n Figure lis a longitudinal section through an ordinary car-body, truck, andframe, with my improvements in side elevation, the section being takenon the vertical plane indicated by the dotted line l l of Fig. 2. Fig. 2is a plan view of the improvements with portions of the car body andtruck broken away or omitted to more clearly show the operatingmechanisms.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in both figures ofthe drawings, referring to Which-m l A designates a portion of anordinary carbody and platform 5 B, a port-ion of the front or reartruck; C, one of the axles of the car suitably journaled in the truck,and D the wheel or wheels carried by the axle. At the end of the car,beneath the platform, is the usual draw-head I, which carries thegravitypin h and is adapted to receive the link 7b2. All of these partsare of the ordinary or any preferred construction familiar to thoseskilled in the art to which the present invention relates; and I do notrestrict myself to this particular form :of car and draw-head coupling,but hold myself at liberty to apply the improvements to any kind of carand dra`w-head which may be deemed expedient or desirable. i

In carrying my invention into practice I provide a shaft E, which isjournaled in suitable bearings on the truck B, and this shaft carries aloose gear-wheel f, a cam g, and a sliding clutch F, which parts aresuitably spaced or arranged between the clutch F and the cam orprojection g.

On the axle O, I provide a gear wheel or pinion e, which is rigidlyfastened or secured to the axle, and with this pinion or gear e` meshesthe loose gear-wheel f, which is normally rotated or lturned by thegear-pinion e; but the shaft E is not rotated by the gears e f until thelatter gear f is engaged with the clutch F. The loose gear-Wheel f isprovided with a serrated or toothed hub f3, which projects laterallyfrom the same toward the clutch F, and the latter (the clutch) islikewise provided with serrations or teeth, which adapt the clutch to beengaged with the loose gear. The clutch F is rigid with or fastened tothe shaft E by a key, spline, or feather, audit is further provided withau annular groove,` in which groove fits the bifurcation or forked lowerend of a lever f', which projects above the platform, or it may extendabove the platform to the roof of a car, or it may extend to one side ofthe car, as may be preferred, to enable the attendant to operate theclutch either from the top of the c ar, the platform, or the side of thecar, and thus obviate the danger of passing between the cars to lift thepin h by hand.

On the draw-head or coupling I is pivoted a pin-lifting lever IL'Whichis peculiarly constructed to engage with the pin h', and this lever H isoperated from the cam g through IOO the medium of the'operating-lever G,the le vers G H extending from the truck B to the draw-head. The lever'G is fulcrumed at an intermediate point 0f its length to the truckframe,as indicated at g, and the rear end of this lever G carries a shoearranged in the path of the cam or projection g on the shaft E, the shoebeing preferably arranged above the projection or cam, as shown in'Fig.l.

The pin-lifting lever is bifurcated. or composed of two parts, so as toembrace or straddle the draw-head at 'ir The forward end of thepin-lifting lever is bent upward. and inward to form the pin-supports h,which take beneath va shoulder or head on the gravitypin la The rear endof the lever Il is connected to the forward end of the operatinglever Gbyv a pin-andf-slot connection g2. (See Fig. i.)

This-being-the construction of my'improved pin-lifting device forcar-couplers,the operation is asfollows: The loose gear-wheelfbeingfreefrom engagement with the clutch- F, it turns freely on theshaft E by' reason of its engagement with therigid spur-wheel e on theaxle but tlie'sh'aft F doesnotturn. Hence the earn? or projection gremains out of contact with the shoe on the'operating-lever G, and thepin h is lowered to engage' the link- 'tte'd in the draw-head. Toliftthe pin h and thus unc'ouple the cars, the attendant has only to shiftor'i'nove the lever f', which operates to throw the clutch F intoengagement with the loose gear-Wheel, thus making the gear f rigid withthe shaft E andv causing the latter to be rotated by motion impartedlthereto direct from the axle C. As the shaft El is turned,` the canilor projection g strikes the shoe of the'le'ver G, which has its frontend depressed andl operates upon the lever ll to lift the forward end ofsaid lever H, thus raising the pin-support h and elevating the pin h outof engagement with the link in the draw-head. The op'erator'ean shiftthe lever at the desired moment to' lift the pin and is enabled toencon-ple the cars with entire safety, as he is not compelled to gobetween the cars.

Changes in the forni and proportion of parts anddetailsof constructionof the mechanism herein shown and described as an embo'dimentofmyinvention-can be madewithout departing from the principle orsacrificin g the advantagesv thereof, and l therefore reserve the rightto make such modification as falls within the scope of my invention.

described my invention, and desire to secure by Having thus fully what lclaim as new, Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a draw-head and an axle, of a shaft having aloose gear-wheel geared to said axle, a clutch carried 'by said shaftand adapted to engage the gear-wheel, a. pin-lifting device, andmechanism operated 1 by thev shaft to operate the pin-lifting device,

substantially as described.

2. The combination, With a draw-.head and an axle, of a shaft carryinga1 cam-or projection, a pin-lifting lever, and an operating-leveradapted to be operated by the cam or projection to lift the pin-support,substantially as described'.

3. The combination, with a drawlhead-of a pivoted pin-support engagingthe pin insaid' draW-head,a` shafthaving aca-mor projection thereon, anda lever connected to thepinsupport and arrangedfwithiln thepa'thlof saidcam or projection,substantially asdes'eribed.

4. The combinationf,with a' drawlhead, of a pivotedv pin-support fitted?to the pin,a sh1aft having a cam, a lever connected to the pi-nsupportand adapted to be operated by thel cam, and mechanism for clutchingtheshaft .tol one of rthe axles'of the ear,s'ubstantiallyas described.

5. The combinationgiwitha draw-head, of a 8 piv'oted pin-support fittedto the pi1n'a} shaft having a cam, a lever connected to' the pinsupportand having a shoe arranged in the path of the canna gear-wheel loose onthe shaft and geared to an axle, and a clutch', also carried by theshaft, substantially as de"- s'cribed. y

6. Thecombina'tion, with a draw-head,of a pin-lifting lever H, pivotedtothe draw-head and having the supports h engaginrgwith the pin,- a shafthaving the cam or proj'ectiomthe lever G, connected to thek lever H andhaving a shoe in the path of the cam, a geare, rigid with an axle,another gear loosely fitted on the shaft to mesh with the gear eand'having roo the serrated hub, and the ciu-tch keyed to the shaft andadapted to be shifted by a. handlever to engage the loose gear' on saidshaft, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 105 presence of twowitnesses.

SIGISMUND B.

ll/'itnessesz` i HENRY E. COOPER, H. I. BERNHARD;

VOR'FMANN.

